RUSSIA.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 16301, 29 November 1918, Page 3

RUSSIA.

AN AMERICAN CORRESPONDENT. HINTS THAT CZAR IS STILL ALIVE. By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright (Received Nov. 29, 11.5 a.m.) NEW YORK, Nov. 28. Mr. Ackerman, in a message from Vladivostock, states that he ■is investigating the Czar’s fate and gives an account of the brutal and humiliating prosecution of the Royal Family by the Bolsheviks, and adds: “An examination of the house at Eketerinburg, where the Royal Family was imprisoned, reveals innumerable bullet holes in the floor and walls, but I believe, with most people here, that these are insufficient evidence to prove that the family has been executed. There is circumstantial evidence that they still live. The Czar’s fate is a conundrum.— Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

TERRIBLE CONDITION. OF RETURNING PRISONERS. STOCKHOLM, Nov. 23. Advices from Potvograd state that immense crowds of freed Russian wav prisoners from Germany are adrift on the frontier, suffering terribly from lack of clothing and food. Most are ill from dysentery and consumption. Thousands are dying on the roadside. Lenin desperately but vainly appealed to the local Soviets for help. Serious political consequences aro feared. A French officer from Russia states that a great number of horses are dying from starvation in the streets of Moscow. People continue to eat horses and dogs. UNITED STATES. PRESIDENT WILSON. AND HIS VISIT TO EUROPE. By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright. WASHINGTON, Nov. 6. President Wilson, replying to critics, Stated ho does not attach ; any weight to the contention that his absence from the United States will incapacitate him from the performance of his presidential duties. President Wilson intends to officially administer his office aboard ship and also from Paris by cable or wireless. President Wilson’s passport permits him to visit Italy, France, and Britain. It is understood h© will first visit Franco. A shipload of press correspondents will shortly be leaving for Europe. BIG SHIPPING PURCHASE. NEW YORK, Nov. 26. It is understood the United States Government’s offer to purchase 720,000 gross tons of British shipping from the International Mercantile Marine Company has been accepted. The United States shipping purchase includes the Olympic.—Aus.- Cable Assn.

AIR STATIONS FOR COAST DEFENCE. WASHINGTON, Nov. 27. The Navy Department is planning twenty-one coastal defence aerial stations at a cost of seventeen millions sterling. Squadrons of fighting aircraft will be stationed at strategic points in tho United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, and the Panama Canal.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.